Chapter 499: The First Confrontation

Thirty years have passed since he was on board at the age of fifteen, and he has progressed from the lowest sailor on board to a captain of the Invincible Armada, and he has experienced many risks and tribulations at sea. Pen ~ fun ~ Ge www.biquge.info remember that when he volunteered to become a hired sailor in the Armada, many people said he was stupid, but after a few years, when he was officially hired by the Arma to become a crew member, how many people envied him......

He was in his thirties at the time, but the grocery store owner in the neighborhood where he lived did not hesitate to marry his seventeen-year-old daughter to him. Therod now has two lovely children, and he was promoted to captain of a large armed warship last year. For Therod, success is very simple, as long as he has been conscientious for more than ten years, diligently completing the orders issued by his superiors, plus paying some financial costs to establish a good relationship with his superiors.

So when Therod received the order from his superiors to lead the fleet out on patrol, he didn't scold like his colleagues, complaining about the damn weather and his bad luck, everyone was in Wodong how to draw their own sailing or something, but nodded silently, and began to arrange all the supplies needed for the voyage with the logistics director, as well as the assigned winter clothing. Sailing in such a blizzard is an adventure and every detail must be taken with care.

Luckily, it's a good thing to be able to reach your destination safely and soundly when you go out to sea to patrol in such a winter. The next thing is to go back to the sad ocean after a circle, in fact, the sad ocean in winter is not deserted, and you can often see the shadow of one or several armed merchant ships. Selord: They know very well in their hearts that most of these are actually smuggling ships, don't look at the business alliance and the Kingdom of Antinac are at war, but the smugglers on both sides are still communicating with each other, and many times the more antagonistic the two sides of the war fight, the more rampant the smuggling activities will become......

However, Therod's patrol fleet did not pay much attention to these smuggling merchant ships, and for the Armada, as long as they were legitimate, as long as they had a special pass issued by their fleet and a small red flag with three blue oblique edges, then these merchant ships were legal. The owners and captains of all the merchant ships and cargo ships that begged for a living in the bay knew that as long as they went to the Armada and spent ten goldfords to buy such a one-time small flag, they would not only be able to get unimpeded at sea, but they could even be protected by the Armadada.

It would be nice to find the smuggling boats that didn't fly the little flag of concession pass, which is the hope of almost every crew and sailor who sails out on patrol during such a cold winter day, because it means that everyone can have a bonus in their accounts. Without a small flag that allowed passage, the captured smuggling ship was left to the disposal of the patrol fleet, and no matter which nobleman or the head of the Chamber of Commerce was behind it, the Invincible Armada would come forward to communicate with them. On the sea, the Armada is so domineering, it will make everyone understand that the sea is the territory of the Armadada.

The fire was beating in the fireplace, and this was probably the warmest and most comfortable cabin in the entire large warship, and Therod thought he had the qualifications, because he had also suffered, and spent endless cold nights crammed into the damp and icy dark cabin with the lowest sailors of the bitter ha. But now that he was the captain, it was natural for him to enjoy the spacious and warm captain's cabin.

The so-called bitter first and then sweet, without hard work, where does the sweet harvest come from, of course, Captain Therod's goal now is to be knighted, and leaving a hereditary territory for his children and grandchildren has become his goal. Becoming a territorial nobleman of the Business Alliance is not something that can be achieved by hard work, and Captain Therod is calculating how much money and help he needs to become the envy of the Business Alliance......

"Ship, black ship, the Norton family's fleet of black ships!" came the sound of the lookout's hand shivering from the slipway, of course, this shivering was not scared, but frozen and excited. Anyone can hear the shouting, and there is a hint of surprise in it. Early last year, the Armada issued an order that the ships that met the Norton family at sea could attack at any time, instead of attacking each other as before. Because the Norton family has become an enemy of the business alliance.

"Aha, the rats are finally out of their holes...... Captain Therod said happily, maybe this winter patrol will bring him good luck, such as adding a silver sail badge to the collar of the captain's uniform, which represents the victory medal for commanding a fleet to give the enemy a crushing blow, and now Captain Therod only hopes that this time he will not meet the small fast patrol ships of the Norton family fleet, which the Invincible Armada calls the "sea rats", those ships are too agile and fast to be caught.

When Captain Serod got on the slipway, the mast was on the lookout, and the voice of the lookout came again: "The main battleship of the Norton family, the black ship, one twelve, is five hundred yards away, and it fanned towards us. They seem to be coming towards our fleet, hostile...... Get ready for battle!"

Five hundred nautical yards is equivalent to a thousand meters on land, which is the standard unit for measuring distances at sea on the continent of Gelinthia. It seems that it will take about ten minutes for the two fleets to get close to the combat distance, and there is still plenty of time to order the subordinate warships to prepare for battle. Captain Selod looked up at the sky, the weather was fine today, and it was rare for the sky to show a piece of blue and a hint of sunshine, and it shouldn't snow for the next two days.

However, Captain Serod waited for a long time and still didn't wait for the lookout's continued report, and angrily raised his head and yelled at the lookout on the mast: "Bastard, continue to report the enemy!"

A trembling reply came from above: "Captain, haven't you already reported it......?"

"Just twelve? no other ships?" Captain Therod was surprised.

"Yes, Captain!" shouted the lookout, "just twelve black ships, and no other ships! Now we are still more than four hundred nautical yards......

Strange, what is this Norton fleet trying to do? Captain Therod was a little confused. He knew that the opponent called the North Sea Fleet had a total of sixteen black hull warships as its main warships, which was the main reason why the Invincible Fleet did not want to call it the North Sea Fleet and called them the Black Ship Fleet. In the minds of all the members of the Armada, the sea belongs to the Armada, even the chicken-ribbed northern seas are no exception. Therefore, they are reluctant to call their opponents by sea domains, and calling them the Black Ship Fleet is equivalent to treating their opponents as those pirate fleets.

The sixteen capital warships of the Black Ship Fleet are said to be equipped with long-range attack weapons such as artillery invented by the dwarves, and there have been patrol fleets and merchant ships that have seen one of the main warships of the Black Ship Fleet rumble and smash a medium-sized pirate ship in public, Captain Therod is not very worried about this, because the spectators said that the two ships were close to more than 50 meters before the Norton family's black ship hit the escaped pirate ship, and the previous rounds of artillery missed the fire. Therefore, all the members of the Armada do not pay attention to the guns of the Norton family on the ship, and they must know that the long-range attack ships of the Armada can accurately hit the enemy ship with fireballs and stones at a distance of 100 meters, or in the first round, they can hit five out of ten shots.

However, the Norton family's main battleship, the Black Ship, once aroused a lot of interest in the Armada, this kind of ship that is no less than a large armed warship has extremely unique advantages in design, and just a free way to come and go in the windy and rough northern seas has attracted the attention of the Invincible Armada. It was only later that when a technician from the Chikde Chamber of Commerce said that the cost of a black ship was probably worth the cost of building six or seven large armed warships, the top of the Armada lost interest. Although the allocation and receipt of the Armada every year is a huge amount of money, all the expenditure items have been divided and owned. It was impossible for the Armada to spend an extra expense on building a few experimental ships like the Black Ships......

Perhaps I may be able to capture a few black ships and return home, which will be a great merit and help for me to be knighted...... Captain Therod's heart was on fire. For victory, there is no doubt that it belongs to the Invincible Armada, look at your own side, the fleet of a detachment that comes out on patrol alone has twelve large armed warships, and twenty-four medium and fast armed warships. Against the twelve Norton Black Ships, Captain Therod was certain that his opponent would end up like a moth to a flame.

However, Captain Therod had always been very cautious, and even if he thought that the commander of the Norton family's Black Ship Fleet had gone mad to deliver the credit, he did not want to capsize in the gutter. Besides, in his opinion, the other party's twelve black ships are not without a chance to win, if the twelve black ships are carrying a hundred-strong sea stormtrooper team, then as long as they rush into the array of patrol fleets on this side and fight together, there will be no chance of victory in the chaos.

A patrol fleet of the Invincible Fleet Division, twelve large armed warships, and twenty-four medium-sized fast armed warships are the most basic configuration. The 12 large armed warships are divided into two types: melee and long-range attack, and the key to capturing enemy ships is to carry out a 100-strong sea stormtroop to carry out gang-jumping operations at sea. The long-range large armed warships are loaded with twisted stone cannons, flying fireballs, large crossbows, and newly equipped stone throwers, which are the main force support for destroying enemy ships in long-range non-contact combat.

However, if each of the twelve black ships on the opposite side carried a hundred-man sea stormtrooper team, it would indeed have a relatively large advantage in gang jumping operations. Maybe that's what the enemy wanted. Captain Therod laughed coldly, the Invincible Armada had never seen any scenes, did he think that such a simple trick could make my patrol fleet suffer a big loss?

"Blowing the trumpet and giving the order, the medium-sized fast armed warships are distributed on two wings, entanglement of the four outermost black ships on the opposite side, and the six large armed warships of the long-range attack type advance to stop the four black ships in the middle of the two wings on the opposite side, and destroy the enemy ships with long-range attacks without close combat. Six large armed battleships of the melee type launched an attack after the long-range attack type, targeting the four black ships in the middle of the enemy, to fight fast and fight more and less, and occupy the enemy ships in the shortest possible time!"

Captain Therod's orders were very concise, and he had already made the best plan to meet the battle in the fastest time, and all of a sudden, the trumpet above the patrol fleet sounded loudly, and the flag flew over, and the flagship Seahorse that Captain Therod was riding as a large armed warship of the long-range type also took the lead, appearing at the front of the patrol fleet, meeting the twelve black ships of the Norton family that came in the distance.

Nearer, nearer, the fleets of both sides getting closer and closer, Captain Serod stood like an iron tower on the slipway, watching with satisfaction as the sailors on deck wound their stone cannons in an orderly manner, opened their crossbows, lit their braziers, and placed forty or fifty pounds of stone on the stone-throwing machine. Once the Norton family's black ship reaches range, Captain Therod promises to teach his enemies a hard lesson......

When the twelve black ships on the opposite side were at a distance of one hundred and fifty yards, suddenly all the black ships turned sideways, and the hull on the left side lay in front of the patrol fleet.

What does this mean? Captain Therod said, did the enemy regret that he only thought of escaping now? But this distance is too close, just wait for the three hundred meters to fall over the bow of the ship and then adjust the angle of the sail and start to escape, to ensure that the patrol fleet has caught up, and then the black ship of the Norton family can only be in a situation of being beaten, and no matter how stupid the captain is, it is impossible to make such a decision, so it is better to directly rush through the enemy's array first and then find a direction to escape......

Just when Captain Therod was puzzled, he saw two rows of black whirring windows appear on the side of the black ship opposite, and then bursts of white smoke rose up, and a rumbling thunder came from the sea. It turns out that the black ship turned sideways to facilitate the firing of artillery! But can the artillery be hit at such a distance, as long as we rush up, these black ships will wait for the end! It seems that the commander of the black ship fleet on the opposite side really does not know much about naval warfare, and may be very panicked. You have to know that at a distance of three hundred meters, no long-range attack weapon will have such a long range......

It's just that Captain Therod laughed dumbly, and as soon as the smile lines at the corners of his mouth were hooked, he heard a terrible sound of wind from far to near, "Click, boom, boom" An ominous voice sounded.

Captain Therod looked up and was stunned, but saw five sails full of full speed on the mast swept by something, and the top two small sails, one fluttering, and the other fluttering like a flag. But the most terrible thing is that the three large sails below, as if cut in half by a sharp knife, all the cables in the front one have broken and are falling, the mainsail in the middle has broken a third of the opening, and the opening is getting bigger and bigger in the howling of the wind, and the second sail at the back has been broken and the lanyard has become a side sail......

The battleship lost the impetus of the wind, and began to turn sideways in place, and after stumbling, Captain Serod hurriedly pounced on the rudder and turned desperately to turn the ship in the right direction, but unfortunately the sail was damaged beyond human power, and the hull of the Seahorse had begun to turn to the left in place.

It all happened for a split second, and then Captain Serod heard the sound of the wind on board again, accompanied by the screams of the sailors. When the wind stopped, Captain Serod looked up to the deck, only to see stumps and broken arms, flesh and blood, and a mess, but the culprits were two fist-sized iron balls, half of which were embedded in the thick wooden deck, and the other was covered in blood and still rolling, and there was an iron chain in the middle of the two iron balls......

This is not the bad luck of the Seahorse at the front, but the bad luck of the six large long-range armed warships at the front. The two battleships on the far left probably had their braziers overturned, and they were burning along the broken sails that hung down, and both ships were in a panic with people on their backs. The most severely injured was the Octopus to the right of the Seahorse, whose middle mast was broken and smashed onto the slipway, and the whole ship could no longer control itself and spun in place.

The damage to the six large armed warships of the long-range type in front of them only aroused the morale of the remaining ships of the patrol fleet, and twenty-four medium and fast armed warships overtook the six damaged battleships and stopped in front, followed by six large armed warships of the melee type, which launched a charge on the black ships of the Norton family......

It was a day for Captain Therod that he could never forget in his memory, the twelve black ships retreating, turning sideways, firing their guns, and then retreating, turning, firing, or pursuing, traversing, firing......

The rumbling of cannon echoed for a long time on the sad sea, and Captain Therod and the sailors who survived the death watched with tears in their eyes as the six large melee armed warships were shattered and sunk to the bottom of the sea...... In such weather, falling overboard means death, and even if Captain Selord tried to save them, there was nothing he could do, and his own Seahorse lost control.

The rumbling of cannon could also be heard from behind the patrol fleet in the distance, and it was the black ship chasing several medium-sized and fast armed merchant ships that had escaped. Captain Selord looked at the six black ships in the distance and turned around towards the six ships on his side that had lost the power of their sails, and knew that it was now the last moment, and he would never see his lovely children and beautiful wife again.

"Quick, hoist the white flag, we'll surrender......" muttered Captain Therod with his eyes closed.

"What do you say, sir?" asked the sailor, who did not hear clearly, in a loud voice.

Captain Therod opened his eyes and became angry: "Hang the white flag, hurry up, labor and management are saving your lives, if you don't want to go to the bottom of the sea to become a feast for fish and shrimp, hurry up and hang the white flag for me!"

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